Midnight Blues // Jake Kiszka

twenty one

**JAKE'S POV**

My heart dropped. She wasn't there. I could feel my breath hitch in my chest. I slid along the wall and fell to the floor. She wasn't there. Where could she have gone? Her face flashed in my eyes. Her smile sparkled like moonlight and her hair smelled of flowers and firewood. She was home and that sense of safety had left and I felt empty, as if nothing else in the world mattered. 

I took my phone out of my pocket, half expecting to see a text from her. Nothing. I stared at the screen until it went black and decided to call Josh. 

"Hello, Jake? What's up? I thought you'd be in the middle of something right now, if you know what I mean." He could practically hear Josh's grin through the phone. 

"She's gone, man."

"Gone?"

"Yes. Gone. Her apartment is empty and I have no clue where she is." 

"Fuck. Come back and we'll figure something out. Don't lose hope, man. I promise you and Freya were meant for each other. This isn't it for you guys."

"I really hope you're right this time. I can't lose her."

"You won't. Come back and we'll find her. Don't worry."

The drive back home was a blur. I didn't even put on music because I knew that nothing would sound good, everything would just sound dull without her here. My emotions were raging intensely inside me. I unlocked the door to the house and was instantly surrounded by Josh, Danny and Sam. Worry filled their eyes. I scoffed, I didn't need their pity. I needed a solution. 

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Does anyone know where Freya could have gone?" Josh asked.

It was silent. The truth was, out of all of us, Josh knew Freya the best. He had had conversations with her, meaningful ones, about her childhood and her favorite things. I hadn't a clue about any of those things. I didn't even know anything about her family. If Josh had no clue where she was then I was royally fucked. 

"Okay, Jake, we have no choice but for you to text her. Ask her to give you a second chance, see if she will let her location slip." He said. 

"What if she doesn't budge?" I ask, warily. 

"What if she does though?" He returns

"Yeah, what if she does? What then?" 

"Then I have a plan. It's a bit over the top, but she will definitely know you care." He said. 

He went on to explain how to win her over---it involved a lot of flowers and literary quotes. I felt the sadness pang in my heart as I realized how well Josh had gotten to know her and how he remembered. I remembered how he yearned to be with her and how I stole her away and how I never even got to know her in the way that Josh did. I should have just left it be. Josh would have treated her the way that she deserved, but now here I was, relying on his help to get her back. 

I couldn't think about this now. We had already discussed this. We moved past this. Right now, I needed to focus all my energy on winning her back. 

**JOSH'S POV**

About a year ago...

"Hey Freya," I asked, walking into the hotel room "What books do you like?"

"Books?" 

"Yeah, if we're going to be fake dating, I at least want to do it the right way." 

"Um, I only really lean toward fantasy books, but there's one other that I do like."